We also know that time spent in play in the early years is critical to language development, as play develops the imagination and creative skills.

And it also provides enjoyable opportunities for good socialisation with peers and adult carers.

So, does screen exposure in the early years harm these important early developmental opportunities?

The honest answer at this early stage is, we don’t know.

Recent research findings were presented at a Canadian conference suggesting that hand-held screen exposure in the first 18 months of life was associated with delays in expressive speech.

The key word here is “associated” – meaning screen exposure might be linked with speech and language delay, not that it is causing it.

There might be some other, underlying social or family factor accounting for both outcomes.

So, although it is too early to say definitively that screen exposure is harmful to children’s speech and language development, it is worth reminding ourselves of what we do know about setting children up for early communication success.

We know children need to experience frequent high-quality language input from their adult carers.

This can take the form of general, everyday chatter – talking about the groceries being selected in the supermarket, commenting on the antics of other children and their dogs while visiting the local park, and so on.

It is also vital that parents read to their children every day and sing songs and recite nursery rhymes to them.

All of this means, of course, that parents might need to put their own devices to one side for a bit more of the day.

Professor Pamela Snow is head of the La Trobe University Rural Health School in Bendigo.